I allowed myself over the past couple of days to get caught into this assrific conversation on a Foppery comments thread. [link to comments] It seemed to be the intellectual equivalent of "calling me out," the internet version of howling and poop-throwing. I've decided to take the high road and refrain from any more retorts. Walking away from a pointless fight is supposedly a noble gesture, but there is that pinch of pride in knowing you didn't get the last word. I'm pretty sure, though, that this guy would keep it going forever if he had the chance. By contrast, I've had ocassional friendly debates with the conservative author of a weblog called Joe Pixel. I feel obligated to present this as evidence that some conservatives can actually engage in focused, civil conversation with someone whose views differ. Having said that, I also want to put forward a question: how does someone turn into a nauseating, snickering, insulting clone of Bill O'Reilly? Is it a genetic pre-disposition, or perhaps exposure to some brain-altering chemical agent?